Brewer defies W.H. on immigration

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed an executive order on Wednesday to deny benefits to young illegal immigrants who qualify under the White House’s new deferred action policy.

The Republican governor issued the order in response to the Obama administration’s decision to allow eligible illegal immigrants under 30 the chance to apply for a work permit in the United States. Brewer, whose state has one of the strictest anti-immigration laws in the country, directed that those illegal immigrants will not be able to receive public benefits in Arizona.

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The new deferred action program “does not confer upon them any lawful or authorized status and does not entitle them to any additional public benefits,” Brewer wrote in her order.

Under the program, illegal immigrants will be ineligible for a driver’s license, Brewer noted. State agencies providing public benefits will ensure that these deferred action recipients are prevented from obtaining “any taxpayer-funded public benefits and state identification, including a driver’s license, so that the intent of Arizona voters and lawmakers who enacted laws expressly restricting access to taxpayer funded benefits and state identification are enforced,” the governor wrote.

Under the federal program, which began on Wednesday, the illegal immigrants must have arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16, be 30 or younger and have lived in the U.S. since June 15, 2007. They must also currently be in school, have graduated or be a military veteran, and they cannot have been convicted of a felony or a significant misdemeanor.